It was tried.
The
Watney Mann Invitation Cup (normally referred to as simply the
Watney Cup) was a short-lived English
football tournament held in the early 1970s.
It was held before the start of the season, and was contested by the teams that had scored the most goals in each of the four divisions of
the Football League the previous season who had not been promoted or admitted to one of the European competitions.
[1] Two teams from each division took part, making eight participants in total.
[1]
The competition was a straight knockout format, each match was a one-off with no replays. The final took place at the home ground of one of the finalists, rather than a neutral venue.
[2]
The competition was so named thanks to a
sponsorship deal with the
Watney Mann brewery; the first tournament for
English Football League clubs to sell its naming rights.
[1][3] The tournament ran four times, from 1970 to 1973, before being discontinued.
[1]
From the second season of the competition, the off-side law was applied from the edge of the penalty areas only (instead of the half-way line).
[1] This measure was designed to reduce midfield congestion and promote more goals, at a time when defences were becoming much better organised.
[4]
The first ever
penalty shootout in England took place
[1] in a semi-final of the 1970 tournament between
Hull City and
Manchester United, and was won by Manchester United. The first footballer to take a kick was
George Best, and the first to miss was
Denis Law, whose attempt was saved by Hull goalkeeper
Ian McKechnie. McKechnie became the first player to miss a deciding kick, when he shot wide after taking the fifth kick for Hull in the shoot-out.
[5]
